[2010-2011 CAM-CEEDS Forum] Financial, Economic and Diplomatic Development of China‏

To kick off the ‘2010-2011 Cambridge Eastern Education and Development Forum’, two special guests Prof. Shujie Yao and Dr. Kerry Brown were invited by CEEDS to give a presentation in Winstanley Lecture Hall of Trinity College, Cambridge University, on the 17th of March.

The talk started at 7pm sharp with an audience of around 70 people, all of which are Cambridge students and scholars interested in China-related issues. Prof. Shujie Yao gave his talk first, which is titled “China’s Rocky Road to Superpower”. Despite its tremendous growth, China is facing challenges from everywhere. Prof. Yao elaborated on potential obstacles that are going to restrict China’s capacity to become a superpower, such as the high inflation, rising property prices, innovation capability and etc. The audience burst into laughter now and then with the interesting examples Prof. Yao was giving. At last, Prof. Yao proposed how China could overcome these obstacles and create an environment of sustainable growth by balancing social and political reform with economic structural changes.

Dr. Kerry Brown then gave a talk on “Opportunities and Challenges of Chinese Outward Investment”. As head of Asia Programme at the Chatham House, Dr. Brown has many written work on Chinese politics, economics and diplomacy. He also began his talk by pointing out China’s rapid progress since its entry to the WTO in 2001. He then looked at the challenges China is and will be facing while trying to achieve the balanced growth and deeper integration into the global economy. The talk climaxed on Dr. Brown’s analysis of the ways in which China is investing abroad and the complex drivers of this investment within China.

Following the talks, several students from the audience raised their hand to ask questions. Prof. Yao and Dr. Brown happily answered three questions and extended their wishes for students in Cambridge to have a bright future.